Making the move to Va/have to sell in NJ first.. (Norfolk: real estate, hotel)

[J&R]

Any feedback on living in Charlottesville or surrounding areas would be appreciated. Our children are grown and living abroad so schooling is not an issue anymore. My husband has been a CNC machinist for 29 years; I work in the medical field (adminstrative). We're in our early 50's and are more than ready to live in "voluntary simplicity". A couple of acres would be our dream come true!

[Dr.Jim]

Cville itself is a bit of a pricier area than the surrounding. Couple of acres IN Cville even more so.

How close to Cville do you want to be?
And do you want a couple acres in a neighborhood type situation...or more rural country feel? Or more mountain feel?

A little more info about what you want would help.....
About 25 min north of Cville is Gordonsville which is very nice quaint town......or head west towards the mountains and the Crozet area.....

[J&R]

Rural would be our first choice; enough land to grow a decent kitchen garden, keep a couple of chickens but still close enough to commute to day jobs. We subscribe to a "job finder site" that automatically e/mails daily postings/listings for Roanoake, Norfolk and V. Beach. I find reading the messages in this forum helpful, thank you!

[roanoker 4]

Hi J&R, from your post I think Roanoke sounds like a good fit. There are lots of rural areas and towns adjacent to Roanoke that provide an easy commute to work. Botetourt County around the town of Buchanan would be ideal. Charlottesville is a beautiful area also but real estate is quite pricey there. I suggest you come here and visit the two areas.

[badger74]

There are probably more good machinist type jobs in Lynchburg and a good medical environment. The outlying area is beautiful (Bedford and Amherst Counties especially) and less expensive than C'Ville while only being one hour away from C'Ville.

[J&R]

Thanks roanoker 4 & badger 74 for your suggestions. It certainly helps narrow our search. We'll drive down (Fri-Sun) in the near future to do just that. Looking forward to seeing that part of Virginia! Thanks again. J&R

[J&R]

So we finally made the trip from NJ, via Woodstock VA, then on to Staunton, narrowly dodging a tornado in Maryland. Saturday morning we took off for Charlottesville where we enjoyed a traditional South African meal before heading back to Waynesboro. Drove along Skyline Drive for a couple of hours, then back on the hiway to Front Royal for our last overnight before heading back North, 800 miles later. I'm so glad we had a chance to visit, even though it was so brief. Our home is still on the market; some takers but not at our price yet. Next trip will be Roanoake area. Thanks for listening! J&R

[Nebat]

Glad you were able to visit the area! Also good you missed that tornado! What was your impression of the area? I live in Staunton and work in Charlottesville, so just curious. If C-ville is still an option, you might want to check the southern part of the county below I-64 around North Garden. It's very rural but still within commuting distance to C-ville. Maybe 15-20 mins depending on where your house is. I always reccomend Charlottesville because it's still small but has a big city feel with the university and international flavor it brings in. It's also within 2 hrs of DC for its world class offerings and 60 mins or so from Richmond for its shopping and entertainment. Roanoke is bigger than C-ville and a very nice area, much cheaper too. You almost can't go wrong with Roanoke, but it will put you an extra 2 hrs away from everything up north, and east.
Hope your house sells and welcome to the area, hopefully.

[J&R]

We were so happy to finally get a chance to do this mini-roadtrip. We soon realized that one could miss all of America if you stayed on the highway, so just past Woodstock we turned onto Route 11 (?) and followed that all the way to Staunton. I took a lot of photographs along the way...mostly clouds and fields...) We spoke to a couple of folks in Staunton, at the restaurant and later the hotel. Charming, unhurried, very helpful. Loved the way the town is situated in the hills. Driving to Charlottesville reminded me so much of the drive through Zululand (Natal) South Africa down the escarpment eventually to the ocean. Stopped again to photograph...one of which is my screen saver now, a lovely reminder of our visit. We would have loved to drive on to Roanoke, but time didn't allow it. Perhaps in a couple of weeks when the leaves start turning. Can't wait to go back!

[Nebat]

Glad you liked the area! Fall is my favorite season here. Late october is when the leaves start getting good color. I may be off, but I think we are only a week or two behind NY in peak foliage. Depending on how warm or cold our autumn is. Roanoke is a really nice area, you should take Rt. 11 all the way, Lexington is a cool little town. It does merge with I-81, just prepare for that.